5 Best Practices For Checkout Optimisation

Your checkout is the most important aspect of your ecommerce store, without a fully optimised checkout and checkout process you store could be in for issues such as shopping cart abandonment, checkout errors and ultimately a loss of profit. If you’re looking to increase customer satisfaction, improve functionality and overall boost your sales then here’s 5 effective ways you can optimise your checkout process.

Remove Forced Registration 

Customers don’t want to have to register just to make a purchase, it can be time consuming, lengthy and generally distracting, leaving many to simply abandon the checkout process all together. Instead give customers the opportunity to make a ‘guest purchase’ where they don’t need to register at all, unless they really want to.

It’s a good idea to offer the option of creating an account at the end of the checkout process once customers have already input their details, meaning they only need to create a password, saving them time and generally making life easier for your customers.

Enclosed Checkout Process 

Enclosing your checkout process essentially removes distractions for your customers, letting them focus completely on making the purchase instead of getting distracted by other elements. By leaving out navigation elements and banners it means that not only are distractions removed but also allows customers to completely focus on whether important information such as the price, payment options and contact information are correct.

You should also look to avoid links that are likely to take your customers away from the checkout process, however it’s a good idea to include both a link back to your homepage as well as a link to your contact information in case customers need some help along the way.

Include A Progress Bar

At every stage of the checkout process you should let the customer know where they are and how long they have left before the purchase is final. One of the most effective ways to do this is by featuring a progress indicator at the top of the checkout pages which shows the stages in the checkout process and highlights which parts have been completed.

Without a progress bar it can seem like the checkout process is never ending and for many customers this can be frustrating and off putting, leading them to give up and leave the checkout process all together.

Calls To Action 

When it comes to your checkout process, your customers need to know what they need to do and where they need to head to next, which is why calls to action are so important. Be sure to include clear and obvious calls to action within your checkout pages, that aren’t drowned out by the elements of your page.

Using bright colours, bold fonts and carefully thought out placement of your calls to actions you can indicate what needs to be done by your customers.

Keep It Simple

Ultimately in order to fully optimise your checkout process you need to keep it simple. Your customers don’t want to spend a long time working through the checkout process just to make a purchase, they want to be able to move through the checkout easily, with minimal complications.

Shopping online is supposed to be easy, which is why your checkout process needs to match this, a long and confusing checkout can be all it takes to send your customers elsewhere, increasing your competitors sales and leaving you with some problems.

Checkout optimisation sounds complex but it doesn’t need to be, with these simple steps you can efficiently optimise your checkout process in a way that will not just improve your checkout process but completely change your business.